The Supreme Court threw out a legal challenge by the refining industry to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to allow the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol.
Such gasoline is commonly called “E15.”
“The Supreme Court’s decision denies the petitioners their day in court and will have negative repercussions for consumers. It is unfortunate that EPA’s decision to place politics ahead of science will stand,” said Charles Drevna, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.
AFPM joined the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the alliance of Automobile Manufacturers in petitioning the Supreme Court last year to hear their case against the EPA and consider whether the agency did enough testing before allowing the sale of E15.
The Hill reports that: “Automakers say the agency only evaluated E15’s impact on vehicle emissions control systems, but not engines. Food groups say E15 would encourage more corn-ethanol production, in turn raising crop prices. And fuel organizations say installing E15 pumps will be costly for gas station owners.”
The biofuels industry was elated by the decision, arguing that E15 would help keep gasoline affordable for drivers.
“I am pleased that today’s Supreme Court action ends a long and drawn out petroleum industry effort to derail the commercialization of E15. The uncertainty created by this lawsuit has chilled commercial activity that would provide American consumers more affordable choices at the pump,” said Bob Dinneen, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association CEO.
Last year, a lower federal court ruled against the anti-E15 coalition and argued they lacked standing to challenge the EPA’s decision.
The oil and gas industry has also fought E15, arguing that it causes harm to engines. The industry has also expressed concerns that the approaching “blend wall” will force more refiners to produce E15 gasoline as a way to meet the federal ethanol mandate to blend 36 billion gallons into the fuel supply by 2022.
“EPA approved E15 before vehicle testing was complete, and we now know the fuel may cause significant mechanical problems in millions of cars on the road today,” said Harry Ng, vice president and general counsel at the American Petroleum Institute.
Refiners are reluctant to blend more than 10 percent ethanol into gasoline due to safety concerns, but lower demand for gasoline means there could be 400 million gallon shortfall in meeting the ethanol targets for this year, according to Bloomberg.
The impending ‘blend wall” has caused the price of renewable fuel credits to skyrocket and the federal ethanol mandate has been blamed for raising food and fuel prices.
“Ethanol and other renewable fuels have an important role to play in our transportation fuel mix and will continue to be used after Congress repeals the mandate,” said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute. “But we cannot allow a mandate for ethanol that exceeds what is safe for automobiles and that could put upward pressure on fuel prices.”
Recently, senators introduced a bill that would fully repeal the federal ethanol mandate.
“The Renewable Fuel Standard is fundamentally broken and beyond repair,” said Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso. “Instead of delivering meaningful environmental benefits, it’s driven up food and fuel costs for American families. This flawed program will also inevitably lead to widespread lawsuits against American manufacturers. When Congress enacts bad policy, the right response is to scrap it and start over.”
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